Banks Face Key Hurdle in Libor Fight

By

Jean Eaglesham

Updated Feb. 25, 2013 10:05 p.m. ET

Banks suspected by regulators around the world of manipulating interest rates are trying to escape another mire: more than 30 lawsuits filed by borrowers, lenders and other plaintiffs who claim they were cheated by the same financial institutions.

Next week, lawyers for Barclays PLC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, UBS AG and more than a dozen other banks still under investigation are expected to ask a federal-court judge to throw...